To the Ends of the Earth
by RocketGirl3052
Summary: After returning to Kanto, Kojiro decides to see how one of his old Pokemon is doing. But it turns out that that isn't the one who's really ill...


Author's Note: Here's my second piece of fan-fiction. This is set in the not too distant future, so I've tried to leave things as ambiguous as possible so I hopefully don't end up messing with continuity too much. This isn't related at all to my first story, so just think of it as a separate continuity.

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To the Ends of the Earth

by

Rocket Girl

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With Satoshi's return home after his adventures in Shinou, the Rocket-Dan weren't far behind in their continuing quest to capture Pikachu.

"Hey, I recognize this area." Kojiro said. We're right near one of my vacation homes! Musashi, can we stop in and see how Chiriin is please?"

"Kojiro..." Musashi began "We can't just just..."

But Kojiro gave Musashi one of those pitiful puppy dog looks that Musashi just couldn't say no to.

Musashi sighed. "I suppose so. But only for the afternoon. We need to find the twerp and his Pikachu."

"Hooray! I'm on my way Chiriin!" and with that, Kojiro ran off towards his mansion at top speed.

"Kojiro, wait up!" Nyasu yelled as he ran to catch up to his friend. Musashi wasn't far behind.

"Geez, can't he slow down a little? It's not like Chiriin's going anywhere." Musashi whined as she also ran to catch up.

In all the excitement, the trio of Musashi, Kojiro, and Nyasu, failed to notice some storm clouds brewing above...

"Baaya! Jiiya!" Kojiro happily exclaimed as he reached the mansion and found his caretakers outside tending to the Pokemon they take care of.

"Kojiro!" Baaya said. "What are you doing here?"

"My friends and I were in the area and we wanted to stop by and see how Chiriin was doing."

"Oh good, you brought your friends!" Jiiya said happily as Musashi and Nyasu walked up huffing and puffing from all the running they just did.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have anything to drink would you?" Musashi asked tiredly.

"Not to mention some food." Nyasu added.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Baaya said. "Here, come in and you can have all the food you want."

"Hooray!" Musashi and Nyasu said, suddenly finding their strength, and raced inside.

"How can you guys think of food at a time like this?" Kojiro said to himself.

Inside, Baaya and Jiiya prepared food for Musashi, Kojiro, Nyasu, their Pokemon, and the Pokemon Baaya and Jiiya take care of. Everyone happily came out and started chowing down, but Manene didn't seem to be very hungry and only nibbled at its food. Suddenly, a small Pokemon came running in.

"Pichu Pichu!"

"A Pichu?" Kojiro wondered where this little guy came from.

"Yes. This little fellow was hurt in the forest and we've nursed it back to health. But its had so much fun helping us take care of the other Pokemon that its become our nurse." Baaya said with a smile.

"Pichu!" The small Pichu said, smiling in agreement.

"So, how's Chiriin doing?" Kojiro anxiously asked. Not being able to stand not knowing how how his chime Pokemon was doing for another second.

"It's still too weak to travel," Baaya said "but otherwise it's doing much better than when you last saw it."

"Chiriin!" Came a voice from just outside the kitchen.

"Chiriin!" Kojiro turned around and happy exclaimed as his Pokemon flew into the room and immediately covered his eyes.

"Chiriin! I've missed you too!" Kojiro pried the chime Pokemon off of his face and began to hug it.

"I'm glad you Pokemon is doing so well." Musashi managed to say in-between bites.

"Mane..." Manene weakly said. Unable to eat any more food.

"Manene, what's wrong?" Kojiro happiness soon turned to worry.

"Manene ma ne" Manene squeaked out. It looked flush and Kojiro set Chiriin down and picked Manene up to check its temperature.

"Manene, you're burning up!" Kojiro was starting to freak out.

"Manene said its been feeling a little funny since the last Contest." Nyasu translated.

"Contest?" Musashi choked on her food a little, and her face showed worry as she remembered how Manene was looking a little pale, but assured her it was fine.

"Here, let me take it." Baaya said, as Kojiro handed the sick Pokemon to her. She took it to another room to examine it, and Pichu immediately followed.

"Musashi, did you notice something during the Contest?" Kojiro asked.

"Uh, well, I uh..." Musashi started stammering. She was afraid how Kojiro would react.

"Musashi, did you know about this?" Kojiro was starting to get angry.

"Well, you see Kojiro..." Musashi said, a slight blush of embarrassment appearing on her face. "Manene did look a little funny, but it said it was just fine, and I thought after some rest it would be back to normal!"

Kojiro balled up his fists. "Musashi! How could you?!" He started trembling with rage, then looked right into Musashi's eyes with tears in his own eyes. "How could you not say anything?! This... this is the worst thing you've ever done!"

"But, Kojiro..." Musashi said nervously. It wasn't often Kojiro could intimidate her, but when his Pokemon were at stake, Kojiro wouldn't let anyone get in his way.

"No buts. Just get out of here right now!" Kojiro yelled and pointed toward the door to the kitchen.

Musashi gave Kojiro a glare and stormed out of the room. There really wasn't much she could say in her defense, and she knew he wouldn't listen when he was this upset.

"Kojiro, don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Nyasu said as he put his food down.

"She knew Manene was sick and said nothing!"

"But she didn't realize how bad it was! Musashi would never keep quiet if she knew something was really wrong."

"Nyasu is right." Jiiya said. "I think you were a little harsh on your friend."

Kojiro couldn't believe how everyone seemed to be turning on him.

"None of you understand at all!" Kojiro cried and took his Pokemon and ran out of the room.

"Kojiro!" Nyasu started to run after him but Jiiya stopped him.

"I think he just needs some time to calm down." Jiiya said. Nyasu looked sad, but realized he was right.

Since Manene needed time to recover, Baaya and Jiiya had offered the Rocket-Dan some rooms to stay the night in. Since the storm clouds outside had turned into a full blown snow storm, Musashi wasn't complaining. She was about to go to bed when she heard a familiar whimpering.

"Kojiro?" Musashi said to herself. She paused just outside the room he was in and was surprised to find him crying.

"But... isn't there something you can do?" Kojiro asked sadly, not realizing Musashi was standing just outside the door.

"We need a Lum Berry." Baaya said "But the weather is much too rough right now to go up to the mountain and get one."

"We'll just have to hope it can hang on until the storm dies down." Jiiya said.

"Ma...ne...ne...."

"Manene says it'll be just fine." Nyasu translated.

"Manene..." Tears started rolling down Kojiro's cheeks.

Musashi was shocked. She had no idea Manene was this bad off. Even though it wasn't entirely her fault, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She also loved the cute little Pokemon and hated seeing Kojiro in pain. Musashi looked out the window to the blizzard outside.

_That doesn't look so bad, it's just a little snow! I bet I can find that berry and bring it back before anyone even knows I'm gone. _She then turned back towards Kojiro._ Don't worry Kojiro, I'll fix everything._

Kojiro feel asleep at Manene's bedside, and was surprised it was already morning when a certain scratch cat Pokemon woke him up.

"Hey Kojiro, wake up." Nyasu said.

"Huh?" Kojiro said groggily.

"Do you know where Musashi is? Her bed is made, but I can't find her anywhere."

"I'm sure she's around somewhere." Kojiro said with an annoyed tone, still not quite done being mad at her.

"I'm not so sure about that..."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that when I was looking out the window to see how the snow storm was, I saw boot prints leading up to the mountain. It looked just like the boots you two wear."

"What?! There's a huge blizzard outside! What is she doing?!"

"Well, you were awfully hard on her yesterday. I think she may have overheard us last night and went to get the berry herself."

"Musashi... oh, that is something she'd do isn't it?" Now Kojiro was starting to feel guilty.

Elsewhere, Musashi was finding that "a little snow" was more problematic than she first thought.

_Come on Musashi. You can't give up now. You're so close. You can't just let Kojiro and Manene down now after all this. _But every step became more and more of a struggle for Musashi. Her feat felt like they weighed 50 pounds, and the blizzard became more violent by the second. But in the distance, there looked to be something small waving in the wind. At first it appeared to just be more snow, but as Musashi got closer she realized it was something else.

"The berry! I see it!" Musashi suddenly gained a small burst of energy and managed to jog toward it. "Don't worry Manene, Kojiro, everything will be fine now."

Back at the mansion, Kojiro was fixated on the window. Musashi had been missing for a few hours now, and Kojiro just couldn't stand around and do nothing anymore.

"Kojiro, where are you going?" Nyasu asked, as he saw Kojiro put on a heavy jacket and head for the door.

"Kojiro, it's much to dangerous!" Baaya said. "There's nothing we can do until the storm dies down."

"But Musashi is my best friend! I can't just leave her out there! I wont!" Kojiro headed out, but only made it a few steps before he was blown back in and fell on the floor.

"Kojiro, she's right. We have to just stay here." Nyasu said. Though he also wished he could go out.

"But... Musashi..." Kojiro crawled toward the door, but the wind was so powerful he wasn't getting very far. All of the sudden the door shut with someone standing in front of it.

"Kojiro, you're staying here." Jiiya firmly said.

"But..." Kojiro looked at Jiiya, then out the window with tears in his eyes and knew they were right. There was no way he'd be able to do anything in this storm. Kojiro hung his head in defeat. _Musashi... I'm sorry..._

"It's there...I made it..." Musashi weakly said as she came across the mansion. Her enthusiasm at finding the berry had worn off, and each step was even more of a struggle than before. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, she could barely breathe, and everything was starting to go dark...

Kojiro was openly crying now. "Musashi... please come back to me. I'm sorry I yelled, just don't leave me!"

Nyasu went up and hugged his friend. "She'll be back any minute Kojiro, I'm sure of it!" but even Nyasu was doubting the possibility. _Please come back Musashi. How else am I supposed to win that ribbon for you? _Nyasu sniffed and then broke down into tears as well.

All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. Kojiro immediately ran up and answered it.

"Kojiro... I... found it..." Musashi said breathlessly, and then collapsed.

"Musashi!" Kojiro yelled, and just barely caught her before she hit the ground.

"Kojiro, quick! Take her in here!" Jiiya yelled, and Kojiro raced into the spare room where Pichu happened to be staying and set Musashi down on the bed. Baaya and Nyasu ran in from behind. Pichu woke up immediately, sensing something was wrong and wanting to help in any way it could.

As Baaya looked over Musashi, she noticed the berry in her hand. Jiiya grabbed it to get a better look. "This is it all right. She actually managed to find a Lum Berry! I'll take this to Manene right away." Jiiya said as he raced out of the room.

Baaya then resumed looking over how bad of a shape Musashi was in. "Oh no!" Baaya said. "She's not breathing, and I can't seem to find a pulse!"

Kojiro's face went completely pale, and his own heart stopped beating for a second. He bent down in front of the bed and grabbed one of Musashi's hands.

"Musashi! Please wake up! I need you! How am I supposed to go on without you by my side?"

"Pichu, use ThunderShock!" Baaya commanded. Kojiro let go of Musashi's hand and stood back.

"Piiiichu!" Pichu tried to shock her just the right amount, but Musashi still laid there lifeless.

"Again!" Baaya said with tears in her eyes. The small electric mouse Pokemon gave it all it could, but it didn't work, and neither did the next one...

**"**MUSASHI!" Kojiro screamed to the sky with every fiber of his being, as if trying to reach God himself to save her.

Nyasu had never heard such a painful scream come put of Kojiro's mouth, and upon looking at Musashi's pale and badly frostbitten body, it looked like Musashi was gone for good this time. Nyasu could only stand there horrified while tears ran down his cheeks.

"Chiriin?" The yell from its master awoke the chime Pokemon. It floated down the hall to the spare room Musashi was in and gasped at the sight. Musashi may not have been the nicest to it, but it couldn't just stand there and see Kojiro in so much pain.

"CHIRIIN!" Suddenly, Chiriin raced right over Musashi's bed and let out of the biggest Heal Bell of its life. The sound was deafening and everyone had to cover their ears.

"Chiriin... what are you doing?!" Kojiro attempted to yell over the deafening noise. He had never seen such a huge burst of power come from it, and was now fearing for the chime Pokemon's health.

"Chi...riin..." Chiriin gave it all it could, and then collapsed on top of Musashi.

"Chirin!" Kojiro was completely frantic now and took the small Pokemon in his hands. It looked like he had already lost Musashi, he didn't want to lose one of his Pokemon as well.

"Chi..." Chiriin said and weakly opened its eyes.

"Chiriin... you're ok!"

"Chi...riin...chi..."

"Chiriin's asking if Musashi is ok now." Nyasu said.

Kojiro looked bewildered for a minute until Musashi started to stir.

"Mu...Musashi?" Kojiro gasped in amazement.

Musashi barely managed to open her eyes. "Ko... Kojiro?" Musashi said weakly.

"Musashi... you're... alive!" Kojiro cried, set Chiriin down on the opposite side of the bed, and then collapsed on top of his friend in tears, holding her as close as possible.

"Musashi! I'm so glad you're ok!" Nyasu ran up to his friend, hugged her as well, and cried even harder than he had been. "Kojiro and I were so worried about you!"

"Huh?" Musashi couldn't quite remember what had happened and looked at the two of them wondering what caused them to get so upset.

"It's a miracle." Baaya said with tears in her eyes.

"Pichu." Pichu managed to get out through tears of its own.

The noise had startled Jiiya as well, and he came racing into the room.

"What happened? Was that really Chiirin's voice I heard?" Jiiya said in amazement. He had no idea it could unleash that kind of power.

"It seems Chiirin was able to save Musashi just in time." Baaya explained.

"Chiriin... it truly is a strong Pokemon." Jiiya said, and then picked Chiriin up and took it away to tend to it along with Baaya and Pichu.

"And Manene?" Baaya asked as they headed out of the room.

"The Lum Berry arrived just in time. After some rest, Manene should be just fine."

"Thank goodness." Baaya said in relief.

"Pichu!" Pichu happily said, relieved that all of its new friends would be ok.

After a few minutes of crying, Kojiro's face suddenly turned serious.

"Nyasu, can I talk to Musashi alone please?"

"Uh, sure Kojiro." Nyasu wasn't sure what Kojiro was going to say, but he had a feeling that the two of them needed to be alone, so he left the room.

"Musashi, what were you thinking?! You could have died out there!" Kojiro's said angrily. His relief at her well being now faded.

Musashi suddenly had flashes of what had happened. Kojiro crying and yelling at her, fighting through the blizzard to find the berry, and just barely having the strength to walk back to the mansion. "Manene... is it ok?" Musashi said with worry.

"Manene?" Kojiro said bewilderedly. He couldn't believe that was the first thing on Musashi's mind. "Yes, it's feeling much better now. But Musashi, what you did..."

"It's my fault Manene got this sick in the first place." Musashi interrupted him with a serious tone. "I should have told you the minute I noticed something was wrong, but I just assumed everything would work out like it always does."

Kojiro calmed down a little upon hearing that, and his anger started to diminish.

"But I couldn't just sit around and do nothing once I found out just how bad off Manene was." Musashi continued, and then her mood changed to something more nonchalant. "Why do you always act like these things are such a big deal? We're friends, right?" Musashi looked into Kojiro's eyes and tried her best to smile, despite the fact that any type of movement hurt.

Kojiro could only stare back at his friend with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat. "Musashi..." He tried to say more, but he just couldn't get the words out. Kojiro then collapsed on top of Musashi again and resumed his crying. Musashi was surprised at first, but then happily sighed, glad everything seemed to be back to normal. It took everything Musashi had left, but she managed to put her arms around Kojiro and hold him as best she could.

Just outside the room watching all of this were Baaya, Jiiya, and Nyasu.

"Aww, it's so nice to see two young people in love." Baaya said.

Jiiya laughed. "I had a feeling there was something between those two."

"You don't know the half of it." Nyasu added with a smile. Thinking back to all the moments those two had shared over the years, their bond had only seemed to grow stronger. Despite all the fighting and hurt feelings, that only seemed to bring them closer together. He wondered just how much more it would take before those two realized just how much they truly meant to each other.

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Author's Note: This ending makes it sound like a sequel will be coming, but it's not. I left it the way I did so the show could eventually continue where this train of thought leaves off. It has to eventually, right?

Also, I know Nyasu said he'd win Musashi a ribbon for her in the next Shinou Contest, but since that hasn't aired yet, I thought I'd have it so Nyasu could either want to win her another one, or he never won her one in the first place. In that case he'd just want to keep the promise he made to her.

I'd also like to apologize for the Pichu. I know we're all sick of it, but I just couldn't resist the Movie 12 tie-in once I realized I needed an electric type Pokemon. But don't worry, this one's ear isn't notched. ;-)


End file.
